The present invention relates to a cap assembly for a container, more specifically a reusable cap assembly for a container used in a brewing process.
The manufacture of beer is a complex natural process involving three general steps: the preparation of barley by germination (the malting process); the digestion of the barley or malt starch to produce a solution of sugars (wort); and the fermentation of the sugars by yeast. The fermentation of the wort is carried out by adding yeast to the wort immediately after it is cooled and as it is being transferred to a fermenter. In large, commercial breweries, the traditional fermenter is a horizontal cylinder having a capacity of approximately 1,000 barrels. Some major breweries have fermenters comprising vertical tanks with a capacity of 6,000-8,000 barrels. The yeast/wort mixture is stored in these fermenters for approximately one week.
Since the fermentation process produces alcohols, esters, aldehydes and ketones, along with sulfur-containing materials and organic acids, the fermenters must be made of a high-strength material, such as stainless steel. Of course, after each fermentation process, the fermenters must be cleaned to prevent the residue from contaminating the next fermentation batch.
Quite obviously, the construction and maintenance of such large fermenters requires a vast expenditure of capital and manpower. Such expenditures are well beyond the means of the so called "micro breweries" (commercial breweries producing very small quantities of specialized beer) and home brewers. Smaller containers, known as "beer balls", are commercially available to such "micro breweries" and home brewers to provide the relatively small storage quantities needed for their fermentation processes. However, these commercially available "beer balls" have not proven entirely satisfactory since it is often impossible to effectively seal the opening to contain the internal pressures generated by the fermentation process. Of course, without the proper seal, the batch is usually ruined.
Furthermore, the commercially available "beer balls" are generally not reusable, nor do they permit the attachment of accessories used in the fermenting process, such as an airlock, a tap, etc.